The doctor at the centre of the Lance Armstrong scandal could face criminal
charges in Italy relating to an alleged £24 million doping ring.

Michele Ferrari was banned for life in July by the United States Anti-Doping Agency and was named as a key figure in the Armstrong case last week.

Thursday’s La Gazzetta dello Sport said a probe, launched by Padua investigators in 2010, has also uncovered his participation in business dealings and money laundering spread across several European countries.

Under the heading 'The Ferrari System’, it said investigators had uncovered a scheme in which up to £24 million was circulated thanks to the use of Swiss bank accounts and complicit individuals in key positions.

The report labelled it the “largest doping investigation in sports history”, dwarfing the Operation Puerto scandal from May 2006 when dozens of cyclists and athletes were implicated in a blood doping network run by a Madrid laboratory.

It is alleged that the police investigation has unearthed evidence of a scheme that offered a package of services from drawing up contracts, coaching, drugs and the help of medical experts if a rider tested positive.

The USADA report last week found evidence of payments from Armstrong to Ferrari totalling more than £600,000. But this week Ferrari denied having any professional relationship with Armstrong after 2005.

The International Cycling Union will respond to the USADA investigation next week according to Hein Verbruggen, the board’s former president. Verbruggen refused to comment on whether the UCI will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport or if it will validate the sanctions against Armstrong levied by USADA and Wada which saw him stripped of all results after 1998 and a worldwide ban.

The whole scandal has rocked cycling and, in particular, the 71-year-old Verbruggen, who yesterday issued a denial after a newspaper in Holland quoted him as saying there is no evidence against Armstrong.

“Lance Armstrong has never been found positive, even by USADA. There is no trace of evidence,” De Telegraaf quoted Verbruggen as saying in a text message exchange with a reporter.

UCI quickly issued a statement quoting Verbruggen as he attempted to save face. “That article wrongly suggests that I would have stated that notwithstanding the USADA file there is no evidence against Lance Armstrong,” he said. “I made no statement at all on this subject. The heading above the article is absolutely wrong and misleading.”

Meanwhile, Johan Bruyneel, the former manager of the United States Postal Service team, has complained about leaks by USADA and says he remains committed to fighting their doping allegations against him.